It’s not quite a new car yet, but …

Well, it was supposed to be a quick errand.

After all, we had a Busy Day today, getting ready to head out to California, to pick up Kitten and go to the San Diego Comic-Con, and all that.  Packing and tidying and all that jazz.

But …

Well, we used the past couple of Fridays to do long-overdue car maintenance. The van went in last Friday.  The Subaru went in this one.  And, of course, it turned out we were at the 60K level with the Subaru, plus the (warranty-covered) water pump needed replacement.  And the axles were frammin with the jim-jam, etc.  So the car wasn’t ready until today.

And, of course, when we went in to pick it up, we just, kinda-sorta, had to look at the new car offerings.

The van is over 10 years old — a 2000 Toyota Sienna, purchased in late 1999.  It still functions solidly as a vehicle, but the peripheral systems are beginning to fail — the power door handle is broken, the passenger power window isn’t reliable, etc.  We could fix those things — but, honestly, is that a good investment of money?

Of course, we  have been discussing getting a new car for, um, several years now. And have been foiled by the whole “Well, the van is working just fine, thankyouverymuch, so why do you want to replace it?”

I think we’re finally getting there.

(Which, ironically works out not too badly, since we’ve continued pumping our Standard Monthly Car Payment into our savings account, which is now just about rich enough to actually buy the level of car we want outright.)

So .. I’ve been very hep on getting another Subaru, both because my current Impreza WRX  (2003) has worked out quite nicely, and because I’m a big believer in All-Wheel Drive, living here in Colorado.  I’d love to have our major vehicle (with seating for all, and the vehicle Margie drives to the office) be optimal for snowy days.

My preference has been for the Subaru Forester, a small SUV.  We’ve had one in hand in the past — both when we were last down in Santa Fe and during various maintenance episodes. Again, the point is to have something large enough to carry some cargo and to be able to fit various visitors to the Consortium — i.e., at least three in the back seat.  Indeed, if someone had waved a wand and made our acquisition of a new car a Forester, I would have been a happy camper.

But …

Something’s been happening in the world of Subarus over the past few years.  And the Outback …

Okay, so back in the day (2003) when I bought my first Subaru, there were two main lines of cars in that brand (excluding the Forester).  The Impreza was the compact, the Legacy was the sedan.  There were baselines of each model, and upper grades of each model, but somewhere in the middle was the “Outback” brand (Legacy Outback for the larger model, Outback Sport for the smaller).

Outbacks are fairly ubiquitous in Colorado, a somewhat narrow sedan/hatchback,  often forest green with the tan undercarriage.

But somewhere in the last few years, Subaru has changed the Outback brand.  While still similar to the Legacy sedan, the overall size has grown. It’s now a small SUV in scope, nearly as big (though not bigger) than the van, and seriously not in the hatchback sedan category.

So we ended up test driving a new Outback. And, honestly, it’s pretty darned close to what we’re looking for in a vehicle to replace the van.   It’s roomy, it’s zippy, it has decent mileage, it has various bells and whistles … and it’s roomier and more comfy than the Forester, has better interior trim, and …

(Subaru also makes a full-sized SUV, the Tribeca. It’s big and comfy, but gets horrid mileage, has godawful sight lines, and the third row of seats is suitable only for toddler.)

Anyway, so we ended up test driving the Outback, as I said.  And … yeah, I could see us getting that car.

Though not until we’re back in town with Kitten, who is loathing the idea of getting rid of the car she’s grown up in.

So, we may have a new car in the imminent future.  Stay tuned …